I got led into one of the countless rooms across the hallway that had a sweet smell. We walked through a small hall where all the performances took their place. What an honor it is, I thought, to play the instruments among proud parents. I wanted to throw up just from the thought of it.
I had the time to notice how nice and free I felt in a room where I ended my path. A ready piano, a lot of cases similar to mine, the sun looking into the windows with curiosity, appearing and disappearing.
I got taken back to reality by a low note and the priestess's voice – the lady opened the piano and pressed its keys separately, singing the notes at the same time. I heard at kindergarten that there were seven notes, and I knew them. Trying to copy the woman, I sang through the nose on high notes and almost lost my voice on low ones. With a still heart, I waited for her conclusion.
– Well, not bad, you have an ear for music.
You could say that again.
– We have one of our best students here. He came back to our town to be a teacher. He must come here soon. – She led me back to the entrance.
Suddenly, the door opened. The one that came in was quick as a lightning and interrupted the shrine's peace and quiet.
At that moment I thought that gifted people really were gifted but their sanity was taken from them. Some people were unlucky like me, and they were without both the gift and the sanity. But that thing that stood before me blossomed and got its rot at the same time. If I saw it in the backstreets at night, I wouldn't be able to tell right away that it was a human being.
Yellow faded hair, a knitted vest in the middle of summer, a big shirt that clearly wasn't the right size, dark pants, not zipped completely, extremely shiny blunt toe shoes. Its hands were fettered by shaking. I tried to look closer but the creature hid them behind its back when I did.
I felt sorry for it.
– Hello. – The creature showed friendliness. – Who is yet to be educated? – It repeated after the old lady.
I swallowed nervously. As it seemed to me, it sensed my fear.
– Then it comes to be that you came to study by yourself. Not bad. – The creature smirked. – Big hopes don't always end well, – it breathed under its nose.
Finally I learned who it was:
– Iosif Seraphimovich Padnogurov. – Still, he kept his hands behind his back. – Has your musical ear already been discovered? – Iosif threw a glance at the old one, she nodded humbly. – Marvellous. Sign up, come in September. I'll be in the first class upstairs. Tamara Ibragimovna, – he turned his back again, – you and I are very lucky. – Iosif laughed viciously, but this triumph didn't last. He choked and went upstairs as he promised. I saw tension in his face. I didn't have a chance to look at his palms – he hid them in his pockets.